Every June, Delta Dental of Tennessee joins partners statewide to shine a light on the transformative power of a smile. This year, we're proud to celebrate Smile Power Oral Health Week, June 15–19, 2026.
Smile Power Week was created to promote healthy smiles across Tennessee during National Smile Month, and to draw attention to a reality that too many Tennesseans face: the toll that poor oral health takes on daily life. Research from the American Dental Association found that 45% of low-income adults say they avoid smiling, and 68% sometimes find life less satisfying due to the condition of their mouths and teeth. That's not just a dental statistic — that's people hiding their smiles, holding back at work, and struggling with confidence every single day.
Each year, Governor Bill Lee joins the Tennessee Charitable Care Network (TCCN) in officially proclaiming Smile Power Week, recognizing the urgent need for accessible oral health care and honoring the clinics working tirelessly to meet it.
This Smile Power Week, we have some encouraging news to celebrate. Delta Dental recently released its 2026 State of America's Oral Health and Wellness Report, a nationwide analysis of consumer opinions and behaviors around oral health, and the findings show real progress in how Americans think about their teeth and overall wellness.
More adults than ever are connecting the dots between oral health and chronic conditions like diabetes, kidney disease, and dementia. Nine in 10 adults now say preventive dental exams are just as important as annual physicals. This is being led by Gen Z, who say oral health is essential to their overall health and closely tied to mental well-being.
That shift in thinking matters. When people understand that good oral health is good whole-body health, they're more likely to prioritize care, and that's exactly the message Smile Power Week was built to spread.
In 2025, TCCN's charitable and reduced-cost dental clinics provided 53,568 oral health services, including oral surgeries and preventive cleanings, to more than 17,000 Tennesseans who otherwise would not have received care.
These clinics are doing more than filling cavities. They are creating and restoring smiles, and with that, restoring health, self-confidence, and dignity to patients across the state. Since Smile Power Week's first year in 2016, the scope of that work has grown enormously, and the need hasn't diminished.
Delta Dental of Tennessee is proud to be a longtime partner of TCCN and the clinics it supports. Our Smile180 Foundation supports dental clinics serving uninsured and underinsured Tennesseans across the state, as well as children's hospitals and oral health education, including Tennessee's two dental schools, Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Dentistry.
Smile Power Week is our opportunity to amplify that work and remind every Tennessean: your oral health matters, preventive care matters, and you deserve to smile.
This Smile Power Week, we invite you to prioritize your whole-body health, starting with your smile.